Gentle World’s Hawaii center is situated in an area where suburban living meets the farm. Along the street where we walk for our evening sunset, we pass goats, hens, roosters, horses, and even cows. These animals may seem happy enough, as their lives are far from the horrors of industrialized production. But, just like their […]
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On Valentine’s Day, I had a booth at the Kaw Valley Seed Fair. Thanks to Judy and Michael Carman and my family who all contributed many hours, we gave away hundreds of samples of delicious gluten-free vegan food, and planted many seeds!

We recently received an e-mail from a reader asking for more information about laying hens, as explored in our article A Hen’s Relationship With Her Eggs. We turned to our friends at Peaceful Prairie Sanctuary for their expert opinion on the subject, as they live and work alongside many hens who have been rescued from situations where they were being […]
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As a vegan, it’s hard not to feel heavy-hearted around Thanksgiving time. While the rest of the country looks forward in eager anticipation to a day of feast and celebration, we vegans tend to be seen as a thorn in the side of the collective consciousness. Some of us try and simply avoid thinking about the impending […]
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During my time working around chickens, there were a number of experiences that changed my perspective on eggs and opened my heart to the hens that laid them. The first started with making a homemade “farm fresh” omelet out of eggs a friend had collected…

As we look more closely at the reality of the backyard chicken trend, it becomes increasingly clear that it is the same commodification of animals, packaged in niche marketing to appeal to the modern “conscious consumer”.

Although it’s true that the animal industry is an eager and aggressive middle agent, its role is only that of middle agent. As such, while institutionalized exploiters certainly have a lot to answer for, it is consumers who are primarily responsible for animal cruelty through their purchases of animal products.